DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Sophisticated Rejection of Scientific Evidence

博士论文研究：对科学证据的复杂拒绝

• 批准号: 1537364
• 负责人: Baruch Fischhoff
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1537364&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DOCTORAL; DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Sophisticated; Rejection

Scientific findings and innovations have shaped American life in countless ways, but not all scientific advances have received a warm reception by the public. This project investigates the factors that predict public acceptance or rejection of scientific evidence, focusing on ?sophisticated rejectionists,? individuals who possess the ability to evaluate scientific evidence critically, but still reject the scientific consensus on key issues. The results of the proposed research will identify situations where sophisticated rejection of science is likely, understand how people maintain beliefs contrary to the scientific consensus (e.g., childhood vaccinations) and suggest ways to communicate about science so that it receives a fair hearing.Scientists take rigorous precautions to ensure the validity of their research and the accuracy of its reporting. However, the public may reject the scientific consensus on an issue (e.g., genetically modified foods) based on factors other than those employed by scientists. This research program examines one possible contributor to such rejection: individuals may lack the skills needed to understand and evaluate scientific evidence. In earlier work, the researcher developed and validated a novel scale measuring nonscientists? scientific reasoning skills (SRS), defined as those needed to assess the validity of scientific results. The present research uses this scale to understand a group of individuals identified in the research to date: ?sophisticated rejectionists,? defined as individuals who have high SRS scores yet still reject the scientific consensus on key issues. The first study will analyze data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics? Survey of Public Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Science and Technology, looking for evidence of such sophisticated rejectionists. The second study will investigate how they reject science. Do they fail to apply their skills to dissect spurious scientific arguments or is their interpretation of scientific evidence biased by their belief in claims that most scientists would consider false or incomplete? Two additional studies will test strategies to reduce sophisticated rejection of science by varying how science is communicated. As a whole, this research furthers scientific understanding of how nonscientists evaluate, and sometimes reject, scientific evidence.

科学发现和创新在无数方面塑造了美国人的生活，但并不是所有的科学进步都受到公众的热烈欢迎。本项目调查预测公众接受或拒绝科学证据的因素，重点关注？复杂的反对者,?具有批判性地评价科学证据的能力，但在关键问题上仍然拒绝科学共识的个人。拟议的研究结果将确定可能对科学进行复杂拒绝的情况，了解人们如何维持与科学共识相反的信念（例如，儿童疫苗接种），并提出关于科学的交流方法，以便它得到公平的听取。科学家采取严格的预防措施，以确保他们的研究的有效性和报告的准确性。然而，公众可能会基于科学家所采用的因素以外的因素而拒绝对某一问题（例如，转基因食品）的科学共识。本研究项目考察了导致这种拒绝的一个可能因素：个人可能缺乏理解和评估科学证据所需的技能。在早期的工作中，研究人员开发并验证了一种新的测量非科学家？科学推理技能（SRS），定义为评估科学结果有效性所需的技能。本研究使用此量表来了解迄今为止研究中确定的一组个体：？复杂的反对者,?定义为SRS得分高但在关键问题上仍拒绝科学共识的人。第一项研究将分析来自国家科学与工程统计中心的数据。公众对科学技术的态度和理解的调查，寻找这些老练的拒绝者的证据。第二项研究将调查他们如何拒绝科学。他们是否没有运用自己的技能来剖析虚假的科学论点，或者他们对科学证据的解释是否因为他们相信大多数科学家认为是错误或不完整的主张而有偏见？另外两项研究将测试通过改变科学的传播方式来减少对科学的复杂排斥的策略。总的来说，这项研究进一步加深了对非科学家如何评估、有时如何拒绝科学证据的科学理解。